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Four kids make a workshop!

Workshop Pricing

Funding may be available through grants received through
Fiscal Sponsorship.

Teenagers & Young Adults

Number of attendees

Price per attendee per class

4 - 9

$35

10 - 19

$30

20 - 29

$25

Over 30

$25

Workshops can include classes in succession or over several days.

What's been going on...

Crittenton Women's Union makes a Fresh Start!

For the fourth series, Jameel Webb-Davis spoke to women
participating in the Woman to Woman program through the Crittenton
Women's Union. The financial literacy portion of this program is
called "Fresh Start" and provides low-income women the skills and
information to make a fresh start in their financial lives.

This is a wonderful program and the interaction and feedback
received from the women during this six-week series is always
inspiring. These women are smart, powerful, impassioned people who
have a great desire for knowledge and opportunity. I'm so fortunate
to be able to work with them to better their lives. For more
information on the Union and their programs go to
www.LiveWorkThrive.org.

Cambridge Women's Center

Start Money Smart has been hosting a weekly series at the Cambridge
Women's Center talking to women regarding their specific financial
situations. Women bring their personal questions and receive
one-on-one feedback on how to address their issues. Two to three
women have attended every week since the program started in
mid-October. The class takes place every Monday evening through May
of 2009 from 6:30 - 8PM at 46 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA.
Cambridge Women's Center is a place where women can go for resources
and support for empowerment and independence in their lives. For
more information on the center and its services, go to
www.cambridgewomenscenter.org.

What's coming up...

Real Life Money Smarts Adult Workshop

An all-day event that provides hands-on information on how to
better handle your money on a day to day basis. This is no
high-level "Investment Seminar". You'll learn basics regarding
better management of your checking account, understanding and
avoiding bank fees, better management of your credit card debt, and
how to stay organized so your bills are paid on time, every
month.

Where: Second Street, MedfordWhen: February 7, 2009 from 10AM to
5:30PMHow much: $25 per ticket

Proceeds go to help Cambridge Women's Center and to increase
financial literacy in Boston communities.

Quick Links...

We've entered the New Year with a lot of unknowns. Will we be able
to end this sticky war? Will we help not to prevent more violence in
the future? Will we get out of this economic mess? Will our
neighbors be able to keep their homes? Will our kids learn from our
financial mistakes? How can we teach them?

I'm also excited about the prospects of what President-Elect Obama
can do for our country, but I'll admit, I'm more cautiously
optimistic. What is the best out-of-the-box idea for getting us out
of the economic hole we've dug for ourselves? I won't pretend to be
smart enough to come up with an idea to rival the top economists in
the world. And I don't think just one solution can solve such a
mammoth problem. But I do feel that there is very little talk about
the individual's personal responsibility in all of this and we must
address that part of this problem if we expect to resolve such a big
issue.

What did YOU and I do to add to the financial crisis?

The politicians spent too much money on the war; the banks sold bad
mortgages; the credit card companies loaned too much money; the big
corporations paid too much compensation; the auto dealerships sold too
many gas-guzzling SUV's, and on and on. However, what did you and I
do to contribute to the economic mess? Are we all just victims of a
greedy system? Were we all forced to buy new cars every three years,
remodel our kitchens based on a line of credit, and put a new flat
screen TV on the Visa knowing that the bonus we hope to receive from
our "secure" job next year will pay the bill?

I've heard no talk about what the new administration will make
individuals do to help heal this economic wound. And each of us needs
to take responsibility in helping to resolve our country's economic
crisis. We can't just sit back and wait for some magical bail-out
that will save our house or pay off our Mastercard. I have an idea to
encourage every citizen to face their own financial responsibility to
themselves and this country, which will in turn address some of the
long-term concepts Americans have developed regarding the way we
manage and understand money.

Don't just send us money for nothing

I believe part of the current plan is to send out additional stimulus
checks to the people hoping that this money will cause us all to
spend, thus jump-starting our economy. Instead of just sending out
free checks for nothing, insist that we learn something for this money
the government's giving us. Every American needs to take a financial
education course and when complete they will receive a stimulus check.
The cost of a nationwide financial education program will be just a
fraction of what the whole stimulus program would cost.

Force every American to take a financial education course - every
single one us regardless of age, education level, job title or
economic status. From the upper class, wealthy, educated with trust
funds, to the struggling working-class living paycheck to paycheck,
we all lack many of the fundamentals needed to manage our money on a
day-to-day basis.

If a program like this is going to work, we can't continue to teach on
topics like "What's a good interest rate for an investment?"
or "What's the difference between a fixed mortgage and a
variable-rate mortgage?" The key to this program is to make sure
the financial education topics covered in this course are specifically
related to budgeting, bill paying and managing money on a day-to day
basis. These are topics not typically covered whenever anyone talks
about personal finance, and the lack of knowledge in these areas,
across all economic classes, is astounding.

Do the math and stay organized

There's a lot of talk about how bad mortgages got us into the economic
crisis we're in today. But I believe there was a lot more going on
then individuals being swindled by bad brokers.

Many people bought houses with mortgages they probably could afford,
but then went out and used credit cards to re-carpet, furnish and
remodel the homes, not realizing how the payments on the additional
debt may cause problems when their adjustable rate mortgages
increased. They never did the math to see what they could afford in
the future.

Others believe that if they live in a certain kind of house in a
certain kind of neighborhood they should automatically be able to
afford a certain kind of lifestyle. So they buy the car, the flat
screen TV, they eat in certain restaurants, buy certain brands of
clothes and they've never sat down to actually do the math to figure
out if they can afford everything they have.

And many others still just became overwhelmed with all the paperwork
involved in managing all this new debt. If you buy or own a house the
amount of mail alone that comes in on a weekly basis can be a chore to
deal with. And if ignored you can believe there's a water bill mixed
in with all the credit card offers and junk mail that can get
forgotten. How many people were prepared to be organized to handle
paying their bills?

A different kind of financial education

There are many financial education programs that already exist, but
most don't even come close to teaching what the average American needs
to know. Yes, it would be great to teach people how to understand the
best investment for their 401(k)'s or the benefits of saving young for
retirement years, but that's not what people need to learn right now.

A financial education course should address forcing individuals to
actually do the math to know what is going on in their personal
financial life. It should teach topics like keeping all paperwork in
one place and setting aside time each week (day?) to look at your
bank balance and your bills due. It should address the skills needed
to keep track of what's going on in a checking account and to review
your debt and have a clear picture of what's owed and when.

A nationwide financial education program can be implemented through
the internet, over the phone, through the mail, or in person. Similar
programs have already been created through our bankruptcy program
where people are required to take a credit course before filing.
State's Departments of Motor Vehicles have implemented nationwide
driving tests that people have to take before getting a license. We
could implement a nationwide financial education test that people can
take, upon passing they would receive a $500 check, for example.

Most of the clients I deal with have money, good jobs and education
and do not want to deal with looking at their daily financial
situation until a crisis happens and they are forced to. Force them
to take a course on how to budget and pay bills before they really
need it.

Start Money Smart, Inc. has designed programs that address these
exact issues and is prepared to teach them to adults as well as teens.
For more information, go
to www.StartMoneySmart.com.